Finnish Gov’t vows swift conclusion of legal proceedings against Simon Ekpa

The Finnish government has assured Nigeria that the legal proceedings involving Simon Ekpa, a controversial figure in the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, will be concluded soon.

Finland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elina Valtonen, provided this assurance during a press briefing in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Ekpa, who resides in Finland, leads a faction of IPOB known as Autopilot, which has been pushing for the creation of an independent state of Biafra, encompassing Nigeria’s South East and parts of the South-South regions.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, had on Tuesday engaged in high-level discussions with the Foreign Ministers of Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and as well as representatives from Norway and Denmark.

The delegation includes the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Tobias Billström; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Ms Elina Valtonen; Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland; Ms Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir; the State Secretary for International Development, Norway, Bjørg Sandkjær, and Under Secretary for Foreign Policy, Denmark, Eva Marie Frida Barløse.

Tuggar, after the discussion with the five Nordic delegates, confirmed that the Ekpa issue was a central topic in his discussions with Valtonen.

“It was a priority. There is no way Nigeria would engage with Finland without raising the issue of Simon Ekpa vociferously,” Tuggar said.